Pregame notes on Machado, Gonzalez, Reimold and Brach

Orioles third baseman Manny Machado isn’t expected to drop his appeal of the five-game suspension levied yesterday by Major League Baseball.

Machado is hoping that the suspension will be reduced to three or four games.

Manager Buck Showalter said he lowered Machado to seventh in the order tonight to take advantage of Steve Pearce’s hot bat. Pearce is batting second.

Machado is in an 0-for-15 slump.

Miguel Gonzalez is slated to work five innings or throw 75 pitches tonight at Double-A Bowie. Assuming he doesn’t experience discomfort in his oblique, he would be a candidate to start one of the three games at Tropicana Field next week.

Gonzalez is eligible to come off the disabled list on Sunday.

Showalter said a six-man rotation is “an option” once Gonzalez is activated, but he doesn’t sound enthusiastic about the idea. He also suggested that reporters wait to see how Gonzalez pitches tonight and how Kevin Gausman fares Thursday night against the Blue Jays.

Nolan Reimold will be in Bowie’s lineup again tonight. Asked whether Reimold still “fits” with the Orioles, Showalter replied, “Potentially.”

“We’d like to think so,” Showalter said, adding that Reimold is feeling his best physically since suffering the injury to his neck that led to two disk fusion surgeries.

Showalter said the club considered making Brad Brach a starter at Triple-A Norfolk, but they’re putting a limit on his innings and decided against it.

As of yesterday, the Orioles had reached agreements with 21 of their picks in the 2014 First-Year Player Draft. Names won’t be announced until they pass their physicals and sign their contracts.